FSE

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A/N: The following stories take place before this one. From Mariel1/ContraryHeartLiger: Hiding the Truth, Change of Pace and Justin Case; from GammaEradon/NebulaBelt: The Long Dark of Soulful Heart Fox or rather this chapter starts right at the end of that story and Not All Feelings are your friends takes place around the time of this chapter.

This should be the last time I need to draw attention to these things.

Chapter 18: Found Again

The lights in the den were dimmed to a pale orange. Feral Heart Tigress lay back on Brave Heart Lion's couch with the lion on top of her with their lips locked together and their tails intertwined as they hugged and kissed. They separated for a moment and smiled at each other.

"I love you."

"I love you too." Feral Heart leaned up and gave Brave Heart another kiss before she lay back on the couch. "Are you ready for this?"

Brave Heart leaned down, "I don't know. Are you?"

Feral chuckled nervously, "Well...I'm not new to this. I would have said something before but..."

Brave Heart smiled and traced a hand over her face, "It's fine, you were a wild animal. So..." he wanted to ask but didn't want to offend her.

Feral smiled, "It's fine. I had two litters before you all found me."

"Really?" Brave Heart was surprised. "What happened to them?" It was then that he noticed Feral Heart was crying. "Feral?"

"I'm sorry," she carefully pushed Brave Heart up and off her and sat up next to him. She fiddled with the silver engagement ring on her finger, "They didn't survive past cubhood, I..." she started to cry, choking on the lump of emotion in her throat.

Brave Heart put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them to try and ease her tension, "I shouldn't have asked, I-"

"Don't apologize," Feral wiped her tears away, "It hurts to remember but I don't want to dwell," She turned back to Brave Heart, "If you're not ready...I mean we can wait till our wedding next month."

Brave Heart's face softened then hardened as he leaned in and kissed her with a deep passion. Feral was stunned for a moment then melted back into the kiss with a deep purr. Brave heart pulled back for a moment and purred, "No. I don't want to wait anymore. I promise our kids will live and you'll be a great mom."

"Oh my, Brave Heart!" Feral's tearstained face spread into a very toothy grin as she pulled him back on top of her.

Neither registered the sound of Brave Heart's mailbox clanking as Zippy Heart Roadrunner deposited a letter then turned and sped off. He wore a bandoleer with half a dozen coffee shots strapped to it and a small bag of mail around his opposing shoulders.

OoOoO

Bright Heart was tinkering with a caring Crystal on to a short steel chain necklace. Love Heart stood nearby and watched as he finished setting the diamond shaped crystal into the necklace.

"Alright I think that will do it. Love Heart Bear, please cast the spell," Bright Heart handed the amulet to Love Heart.

"OK, just a moment." The star on Love Heart's forehead glowed as he touched his right hand's index and middle fingers to the crystal which started to glow. "There. So I just put this on now?"

Bright Heart nodded then scooted his chair over to his computer, "Exactly. If I did this correctly then that language comprehension spell should transfer to anyone wearing the amulet; the crystal should hold the spell for days or even weeks if not longer." He opened a message on the screen, "This is the last message I got from my Faster Than Light communication, can you read it?"

Love Heart leaned forwards and squinted. What were once unknown symbols suddenly to him now made perfect sense as he read the words out loud.

"Bright Heart

_ _

"I suspect I may not be able to send any more messages for some time so I will do my best to explain. The Lylat System is on the brink of war and I am caught in the middle of it. My 'hyperdrive' is finished and is being tested everywhere but so far no one wants to use it for interstellar travel. For now, I want to reassure you that I will be able to break this barrier soon and if we are lucky we shall see each other in a few years.

_ _

"Next time I send you a message it should be safe to tell you my name."

Love Heart stood back up, "Was that right?"

Bright Heart nodded with a grin on his face, "Perfect. Now we just need a way to translate what you're saying into the language you want to speak."

Love Heart took the amulet off, "I'll work on that. There's more advanced magic that lets you be understood by anyone but I'm not at that level yet." He passed the still glowing amulet back to Bright Heart, who set it in a small box for safe-keeping, "For now I'm going home. What about you?"

"Gentle Heart and I going to see Soulful Heart." Bright Heart's expression became downcast, "Ever since we rescued Share and Wish from No-Heart a couple days ago he's been shut up in his house. I think Regal went to see him last night. I should have gone there."

Love Heart nodded, his face grim. It had been a harrowing night that was originally supposed to be a multinational celebration party, granted the Magi hadn't gone on any real Caring Missions in months but they had been there. How No-Heart had slipped in to kidnap those two was still a mystery, even greater a mystery was how they were able to keep Defender Bear from just charging off into a certain trap to rescue them. At least distracting the wizard had been successful while Soulful led Tenderheart, Grumpy Bear and Brave Heart Lion in to rescue Share and Wish. Love Heart had nearly gone paranoid on security again, but he took a few deep breaths and accepted it as a minor slip up while everyone was busy with the party.

"Alright. I promised Zippy I'd help him with something today." Love Heart waved as he left, "See ya." He almost bumped into Gentle Heart as she entered the front door.

Gentle Heart watched Love Heart leave then turned to Bright Heart, "Ready?"

"Just a moment," Bright Heart shut down his computer then stood up, "I'm ready." He gave Gentle Heart a kiss and they clasped their hands together, their silver wedding bands clinking, then set off.

OoOoO

(the next three paragraphs are taken right out of "The Long Dark of Soulful Heart Fox" on Fanfiction(dot)net, by NebulaBelt/GammaEradon)

Soulful Heart Fox felt his foot impact against something. Looking down he saw the architect of his current woes: No-Heart's Journal; still lying on the floor in front of the couch where Regal had dropped it the previous night. Soulful felt a sudden, incontrollable burst of rage. _That damn book..._Soulful growled as he lurched over to the fireplace. A small fire was still burning there. Regal must had gotten it started before she left.

Soulful flung open the small doors that kept the fire in and threw the book into the flames, feeling a severe sense of satisfaction as he watched it begin to burn. Good. Soulful nodded once and then went over to the kitchen to get himself a drink of water before heading back to bed. He didn't check to see if it was light out or not, he just knew that he'd be staying in bed for a while.

Shortly after Soulful left the room something strange happened in the fireplace. As the pages of the book burned the fire changed from an honest red-orange blaze to a wicked looking black inferno. A voice barely audible over the snapping flame and the sparks it sent out, gloated.

Free at last...Now it begins

Soulful Heart had downed a glass of water and was letting it settle when, unseen to him, the black flame crept along the floor from the living room then dove into his shadow. A wave of nausea made Soulful Heart collapse to the floor as his shadow flickered like a dancing flame, despite the steady light of the room.

Soulful was still on the ground when Bright Heart and Gentle Heart entered his house. Bright Heart turned up the lights as Gentle Heart went to his side. Neither of them noticed his shadow flickering despite the steady light.

"Soulful are you alright?" Gentle Heart tried to help him stand but Soulful lost his equilibrium and had to grab a chair, which almost toppled under him until Bright Heart ran to his side so both he and Gentle Heart could help him stand.

"Feel sick..." Soulful mumbled. "Bright, Gentle, that you?"

"It is," Gentle Heart placed a hand on Soulfuls forehead, "He's burning up. Hurry let's get you to bed."

As they exited the kitchen, Soulful's shadow finally became calm, though it was darker against the ground than either of theirs.

Soulful felt himself be laid back in bed as Bright Heart and Gentle Heart carefully tucked him in. He couldn't help smile despite his situation, was this what it was like to be looked after like a child?

"Thank you," he mumbled then tried to turn over but stopped when the effort began to hurt.

"Want us to stay?" Bright Heart asked. He took Gentle Heart's hand.

"Yes, till I can sleep," Soulful looked up at them.

Gentle stroked his headfur, "Alright. We'll call Take Care over later if you want."

"No, just you two..." Soulful was already drifting off but he felt better in the company of his friends.

OoOoO

Zippy Heart Roadrunner stood in front of Love Heart Bear and Confidence Heart Fennec in their backyard. Love Heart nodded towards Zippy, "Alright, show me what you can do."

"OK," Zippy held up his wings as a small gust rose up around his feather-tips. "Not bad right?"

Love Heart nodded, "Pretty good for how long you've been practising. You don't have innate affinity for magic like the magi do but you've done well."

Zippy let the wind gathering disperse, "So what are you going to teach me?"

"First, how to soften a landing," Love Heart pointed out at the field of clouds behind his house, "No better place to practise than up here. You need to learn how to cushion your landings like this." With a burst of air under his feet, Love Heart launched up into the sky then came back down, slowing as he reached the ground with the air visibly distorting like a mound of jelly to catch him in his fall. He turned to Zippy and shouted over the short distance he had traveled, "It's better to learn how to slow all the way but the 'air cushion' can save your life."

Confidence put a hand on Zippy's shoulder with her other on her stomach, "I'd suggest jumping out of a low flying cloud car first until you can jump or fly on your own."

Love Heart jumped back over to the two which created a whoosh of air around them, "Don't rush it. It's only by some miracle that my attempt to defribulate you two years ago accidentally gave you some kinetic powers."

"I'll be fine," Zippy took one of the coffee shots off his bandoleer and chugged it down. "I've been working one some kind of martial arts, wanna test me?"

Confidence raised a hand and shook her head, "No thanks, maybe some other time."

"Aww, oh well see ya later!" Zippy took offer which left clouds of dust in his wake on the clouds.

Confidence smiled as she watched him go. Love Heart rolled his eyes, "You could have told him why you didn't want to fight." He looked at her stomach.

Confidence walked over to him and put her arms around his middle, "Well they'll all know in a month or two."

Love Heart put a hand on her tummy, right over her symbol, "Why are you hiding this?"

Confidence Heart sighed, "Have you see how they've been all over Guidance Heart for the last six months? She only has a couple weeks to go and they mob her everywhere, trying to feel her belly and waiting for kicks. Regular Care Bears have it easy, they only have to carry a kid for three months we have to go through a full nine."

Love Heart gave her a kiss on the cheek and shifted around behind her to rest his hands on her belly with hers, "And you're sure you're OK looking that that for our wedding?"

"I don't want to rush it this time, that and I want people to cool off after Feral and Brave Heart's wedding," she looked back over her shoulder and gave Love Heart a kiss, then turned around to give him a hug.

The two of them stayed together for a few minutes, until they heard the whoosh of the air overhead. They both looked up to see two pegasus flying towards them. Love Heart smiled and called out to them, "Red Snout! Dagger!"

Love Heart and Confidence separated as the two landed in front of him. Red Snout nodded, "Dagger, this is Confidence Heart. She's Love Heart's mate."

"Not officially, but soon. Nice to meet you Dagger," Confidence extended a hand, then stopped and bowed.

Dagger snickered, "Nice to meet you."

Love Heart had hugged Red Snout around the neck briefly then pulled back, "Sorry I don't visit more."

"It's fine. Sorry to rush you, Love Heart, but I need your help with something." Red Snout scraped the clouds with his hoof.

Love Heart saw the serious look on the red roan's face and nodded, "Alright. Start at the beginning, Red, what happened?"

OoOoO

2 hours earlier...

White Fang, Renegade and Kingsire Blue stood at the portal in the jungle region of Pegasus Falls, in front of them stood a young female Pegasus named Sandy Fennec Fox. Appropriately, Sandy's fur was golden yellow and she was looking away from the elder pegasus present.

White Fang sighed, "Alright, kinderlach, tell me what did you hear? And look at me when you talk!"

Sandy gulped but managed to look at White Fang, "I snuck through the portal so I could see what the real world was like. I wasn't too impressed but then I head some humans talking. I wanted to hear them so I got closer and heard them talking about taking a pegasus prisoner so I ran back here."

"At least you told us," Renegade sighed. In the past few years he had grown to his full size and officially became a shaman of the falls, though he still worked and lived alongside White Fang, citing that he still had a lot to learn. He turned to White Fang, "We should probably close the portal."

White Fang nodded, "Aye, what do you say, Kingsire?"

Blue sighed, "The captive pegasus might be a ruse, but we can't take the risk that it's a lost pegasus or someone else who slipped through the portal." He looked at Sandy, "Did you hear anything else?"

"No...can I go home now?" Sandy looked pleadingly up at Blue.

Blue nodded, "You can go." As Sandy slunk away, Blue turned to the two shaman present. "Be ready to seal the portal at a moment's notice, I need to go find some volunteers to investigate if this is a trap."

Both shamans nodded as Blue flew away. Renegade's eyes hardened then he closed them, "I'm going to let Nova, Aurora and my sister know what's going on." A purple aura appeared around him and then three rays of purple light fired off, two back towards the arctic region and one towards the royal caves.

"Alright, now that that's settled let's get ready to close it just in case." White Fang stepped to the right side of the portal and Renegade stepped to the left side.

A short time later Blue returned with Red Snout, Pallas Golden Eagle and Widgeon Golden Eagle with him. "I explained everything to them on the way. They're going to get as close as they can and run back here when they see something. Ready?" The three nodded and changed into their guardian forms then stepped through the portal.

Red Snout spotted Pallas and Widgeon in their golden eagle forms as he kept his ears open and crept through the undergrowth in his red wolf form. They were all dreading what they would find but nonetheless they kept going, staying far enough apart just in case one of them had to flee in a hurry.

Red Snout's ears perked up as he heard voices then held still, not daring to let the bushes rustle. An adult man and woman walked past Red Snout's hiding place and the red wolf instantly felt faint, but he focused to hear what they were saying.

"Why are we still here, and why are we keeping that pegasus alive?"

"Because we need to find where it came from. It's too small to be far from home so there could be a portal nearby."

"It doesn't look like any pegasus I've ever seen. I mean it's a biped not to mention it's awake inside that cage, shouldn't it be unconscious around all that gold?"

"All the more reason to study it at a base. If the pegasus are developing a resistance to gold..." And after that they were out of sight.

Red Snout shook his head to keep himself awake. That was all he needed to hear and he turned and slunk back to the portal. Pallas and Widgeon were just ahead of him and through the portal moments before he was.

Blue watched them as they changed back into their pegasus forms, "What did you find?"

"They said they have a pegasus captive, but that she's resistant to gold because she's still conscious inside their cage," Red Snout shook his head again which helped clear it now that he was home.

Pallas nodded, "I saw it, I didn't get too close but I saw the camp. There's about twelve of them and they have something locked in a cage at the center of the camp."

Widgeon nodded, "I saw it too, didn't get a close enough look to see if it's anyone we know."

Blue nodded back, "Pallas, Widgeon, I need you two to see if anyone's gone missing in the last couple of days. Renegade, White Fang, be ready to close the portal for good. Red Snout I need you to go to the Kingdom of Caring and see if you can get Love Heart to help with this." He held up a hoof to forestall questions, "We need to at least try and rescue whoever's they might have captive there but I'm not going to ask anyone to run into a deathtrap full of gold. Get going!" Red Snout discarded his usual snide remarks but turned and took off through the trees.

OoOoO

"I bumped into Red along the way and decided to come with him," Dagger added.

Love Heart's face had steadily become grimmer as Red Snout relayed the story. Now that it was over he pulled out his cell phone, "I'll call the Magi over here then we'll head over."

Red Snout smiled, "Thank you."

Four phone calls and fifteen minutes later, Anger Heart Fox, Independent Bear, Defender Bear and Truth Bear had gathered in Love Heart's backyard. Anger Heart now had five tails and a muddled expression on his face and he asked, "What's going on exactly?"

"We're going to rescue a captured pegasus from the hunters. The gold they have will make them weak just by being near it and their gods, Daybreak and Nightshade, don't want them going out to attack the hunters outside the falls." Love Heart turned and started to walk towards where the portal was in the Forest of Feelings.

"Actually I think they'd understand if we were going to recuse a captive, but he's right about the gold," Dagger said.

"Why don't we ask Zippy to help?" Defender asked as he fell in step with the rest of the magi and the two pegasus.

Love Heart shook his head, "Zippy's too inexperienced."

Red Snout looked at the group, "What about Swift Heart? I thought she'd be all gung-ho to help with this."

Love Heart shook his head again, "Can't, she's 11 weeks pregnant and due any day now."

Anger Heart raised a hand, "How long will this take? Guidance is supposed to get an ultrasound today."

"Not long if we hurry." Love Heart replied.

Truth Bear was the last to speak "One last thing, Tenderheart said he had to meet with you as soon as you're done with this."

"Alright. Here we are, let's go." As they had been talking they had arrived at the portal and stepped through.

"Alright, create some of the cloud cars you drive and let's get going." Red Snout spread his wings.

Confidence Heart grinned, "No need for us!" She felt the wind swirl around her and she lifted off the ground, followed shortly by Love Heart, Defender Bear and Truth.

"Since when can you all fly?" Red Snout asked as he and Dagger took to the sky and led the towards the portal.

Defender pointed to himself and Truth, "We've always been able to, or at least Truth has I learned it from the phoenix that raised me."

Confidence was still grinning, "I learned using my aerokinetics while Love Heart was stuck in here, then I taught him over the last couple years."

Love Heart glanced back over his shoulder where Anger Heart Fox and Independent bear in a cloud car behind them then he returned his gaze forwards as they neared the portal. All eight of them touched down in front of Blue, White Fang and Renegade. Love Heart gave a brief smile to Blue then his face turned serious, "Red Snout explained everything to me earlier. What's your plan?"

Blue looked towards the portal which was surrounded by White Fang and Renegade's magical auras. "I've had them almost complete the spell to seal the portal just in case the hunters get too close."

Love Heart nodded then turned to the other five magi, "Alright, we don't know where the camp is but there's a pegasus being held captive out there and they can't get close." Love Heart peered through the portal to the jungle, "Our mission is to find the camp, free the pegasus and get them back here. The hunters use gold in all their weapons so a little fire should make them useless," Love Heart focused on Defender, Truth and Anger Heart, "Be careful not to set fire to anything else, if they have guns then hit the barrels and handle or clips with a short and intense flame, that should melt the bullets and clog them. Try to stay hidden until we can surround the camp but if all hell breaks loose then don't be afraid to get in there and knock them out, please don't kill anyone if you can help it."

"Got it!" Confidence Heart pumped a fist in the air as the rest of them gave their acknowledgement.

Love Heart turned back to Blue, "If you see the hunters then don't wait for us, if we can't get back to the portal safely we'll detour to the Kingdom of Caring."

Blue nodded, "Right. Renegade, White Fang keep that spell at the ready."

"Oy don't give us an kind of break at all," White Fang grumbled but kept his spell at the ready. Renegade just grunted in response.

"Alright, let's go!" Love Heart turned and jumped through the portal followed by the others.

On the other side of the portal, Love Heart stopped Confidence and held her back for a moment, "If you don't want to you don't have to come."

Confidence Heart snorted, "I didn't turn to glass when I got pregnant, I'll be fine." She gave him a kiss, "you need to worry more, we're walking into a place full of gold."

Love Heart shuddered as he absentmindedly moved his engagement ring aside and touched the scar she had accidentally given him years ago, "Alright. I'll see you at home." He kissed her and they split up to search for the camp.

It didn't take too long for the Magi to locate the hunters' camp. They had hacked several trees away in the middle of the jungle to set up their tents in a clearing with a large cage in the middle. Confidence Heart did her best to stay out of sight and listen in on the conversations. She bared her teeth at the thought of what was going on but managed to keep a level head as she listened to the sounds of the others surrounding the camp.

Anger Heart wasn't having a good time, his five tails kept getting caught in the undergrowth and twice one of them had been pulled hard enough to hurt before he got it free. He had to bite his tongue to stop himself crying out the second time and his bright red fur didn't help at all with camouflage which forced him to stay at a distance.

Indy fared better, dropping to crawl through the undergrowth as he got closer. He couldn't see anything from where he lay prone on the ground close enough to smell what they had packed for lunch. His mind buzzed as he couldn't help but feel the massive waves of hatred radiating from the hunters.

Defender and Truth stuck close together, using the trees as cover as they edged closer. They could already see the ammunition boxes piled up nearby and made quick hand signs to target them as soon as things started up.

Love Heart held his breath as he crept closer. Though gold didn't make him feel nauseous he was still jumpy whenever he knew it was around. He took a deep but quiet breath and peered around the tree he was pressed up against. He could just make out a pink wing in the cage. His expression hardened as he hid back around the tree. "Alright, here goes." In an instant, Love Heart jumped around the tree and shouted "DIE!" and fired off a blast of yellow lightning through the camp.

Despite his declaration, Love Heart deliberately fired the lightning bolt to miss everyone in the camp. It worked as everyone either hit the deck or pulled out weapons to aim at Love Heart. Anger Heart, Defender and Truth Bear were out in the open, bolts of fire shooting out and striking each of their guns with incredible precision, Defender taking a moment to strike the ammo pile with a red fireball that burned for a brief moment before going out. The bang of firearms being discharged followed by several *splut* noises from the barrels as gold goo leaked out signaled that their attack was working. Confidence Heart leapt up and into the fray as Love Heart conjured his swords and everything descended into chaos.

Indy was the last one to react and he jumped into the fray without conjuring his weapon. With the rest of the hunters trying to clumsily attack the Magi with gold bayonets Indy had a clear shot towards the cage. He charged towards the cage door and peered in, then started. Instead of a young four-legged pegasus instead Indy found himself staring at a young adult Care Bear cousin, a pink horse Care Bear cousin with large wings growing from her back, a pegasus Care Bear Cousin!

As soon as the pink pegasus saw Indy she jumped up and darted over to the cage door, "Help me, ARRG!" She grabbed the iron bars laced with gold and flinched away, only now could Indy see that she was covered in burns just like the ones that had just appeared on her hands.

"Just hold still, I'll get you out of here." Indy grabbed the cage lock with his right hand and conjured his katana. He struck it several times but only produced sparks without leaving a scratch. Indy glanced over his shoulder as Confidence delivered a flying kick to one of the hunters that sent him sprawling before she turned around and punched another in the stomach, neatly dodging a swing from a gold bayonet.

Indy took his katana in both hands and focused, "Alright, just enough to break it." He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, trying to shut out the battle around him as blue energy flowed out over his sword. Indy opened his eyes then raised the glowing weapon and swung it at the lock. There was an audible *Shrrnk!* as he sliced the lock in half and it fell from the door. Indy wasted no time and dropped his katana, leaving it to dissolve as he opened the door. "Just hold on, we'll get you out of here."

The Pink Pegasus Care Bear Cousin wobbled as Indy helped her out, supporting her on his body. Confidence Heart was the first to spot them and she shouted, "BREAK!"

It took the others a moment to realize what she meant, but as soon as the hunters saw their prey about to escape they broke off the attackers to try and get to Indy. Truth saw them and conjured a small ball of light into his hands. The magi recognized this for what it was and all instantly shut their eyes as Truth fired the bright ball towards Indy and the pegasus where it burst.

"AAUUGH!"

"MY EYES!"

Shouts of pain and flailing followed the flare burst, unfortunately the pegasus hadn't reacted fast enough and stars burst in her vision, "I can't see!" she shouted.

"Just hold on to me, I'll get you out of here." Indy desperately led her out of the camp.

"Scatter!" Love Heart shouted and they all darted away in different directions except for Confidence Heart who acted to help Indy carry the Pegasus Care Bear Cousin away.

It was fifteen minutes later that Anger Heart stumbled back through the portal to Pegasus Falls, the last one to return. He panted and collapsed, "Sorry...tail...trouble..." he pulled an offending vine from one of his tails.

"That's everyone, seal it!" Blue shouted.

White Fang and Renegade needed no second bidding as they finished the spell they'd been holding for over an hour as the portal sealed permanently behind them. Renegade all but collapsed to the ground and even White Fang was winded.

The head shaman shook his head, "Now finally, that fakakta portal is shut." He turned to Renegade then helped him to stand with a wing, "Trust me, holding a spell that long never stops being draining."

Renegade nodded, "Right. I'm gonna take the long walk home."

"Not a bad idea." White Fang turned to Love Heart, "You should stop by and visit, Starfang will want to see his 'uncle Love Heart' before you go."

Love Heart chuckled then winced, "I guess living around him for three years made him get attached." Love Heart uncovered a cut on his arm, "Gold burns like I remember, gonna have to clean and heal that later. No casualties at least. I'll stop by before I leave but Tenderheart needs me back home right away."

"I think we have a bigger concern." Defender called out. They all turned to see Defender and Indy supporting the former captive between them, she had passed out during the rush back to the portal. Now everyone saw just who they had rescued.

"A Care Bear Pegasus?" Everyone shared Blue's sentiment as they got their first good look at her, but it wasn't the only thing they noticed.

"She has her tummy symbol." Truth pointed to her tummy, where there was a picture of a heart shaped piece of candy wrapped in a red and white wrapper tied off to each side.

"That's not all, look," Indy raised the pegasus' head and brushed her short pale pink hair aside. In the middle of the pink pegasus' forehead was a dark pink eight pointed star.

"Just like mine," Love Heart touched the dark green eight-pointed star on his forehead. "I don't understand."

"All I understand is that we need to get her to Take Care." Anger Heart conjured a cloud car from his tummy symbol. Indy and Defender carefully strapped the pegasus into the backseat and Anger Heart got into the driver's seat, shuffling a bit until he found a comfortable position with his tails as Indy got in the backseat to help keep the pegasus steady. "I'll see you back home." Anger Heart drove off back to the Kingdom of Caring portal.

Love Heart nodded, "I'm gonna pay a visit to Aurora and Starfang before I head home."

"I'll come to, I haven't seen him in a while." Confidence spoke up. Love Heart nodded then both of then flew up into the sky.

"Tell them dad's taking the long way home!" White Fang called up to them, then sighed and began the long walk with Renegade back to the arctic region. Now that the danger had passed, Red Snout and Dagger decided to take some time to themselves, they would pop by to see Love Heart later.

OoOoO

Guidance Heart was absolutely huge; her tummy has swollen to the size of a beach ball in the last month of her pregnancy.

As soon as he dropped off the pegasus Care Bear Cousin for Take Care to look after, Anger Heart excused himself and joined Guidance Heart and Get Well in the hospital's other exam room for Guidance's ultrasound. Despite a small hiccup with the machine it went off without a hitch and before too long they saw the image on the screen.

Guidance Heart felt a tear from her eye, "Our son, Anger Heart."

Anger Heart wiped his own eyes, "Yeah he's ours. You hanging in there alright, Guidance?"

"As well as I can...Oof! Swift Heart has it easy." Guidance Heart shook her head as Get Well cleaned the gel off her tummy and Anger Heart helped her to sit up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Get Well threw her rubber gloves into the garbage can and took a deep breath.

"Something wrong?" Guidance Heart watched as Get Well washed her hands, trembling slightly.

"It's just. I'm leaving for medical school in a few months and I'm nervous." Get Well sighed and turned around, "If anything mom said is true then it's going to be rough."

"Maybe not as rough as you think. Ooof! Calm down," Guidance rubbed her tummy as she tried to calm her unborn son. When he finally stopped she looked up, "You should talk to Pace. You're going to the same school, maybe you two can room together."

Get Well blinked, "I didn't think of that. I guess it would be nice to have a friend there to live with."

"Well I'll try to see you off then, if I'm not busy with our son," Guidance Heart chuckled as Anger Heart helped her out of the hospital.

OoOoO

Love Heart only had the briefest stopover to visit Starfang. The young pegacorn was half as tall as his parents now and his horn was just starting to grow in. Love Heart wanted to stay longer but he was too tired and wanted to get his meeting with Tenderheart and Brave Heart over with as soon as possible.

Love Heart stepped into the leaders' meeting room, "Alright, I'm back. What's so important?"

Tenderheart motioned for Love Heart to sit at the desk with him and Brave Heart, both of whom had a large stack of papers between them. "It's fine, Defender stopped by to deliver a report. But what we really need to talk about is politics."

Love Heart stared at Tenderheart, eyebrow raised, "Politics?"

Brave Heart cleared his throat, "More specifically, politics of Earth. Tenderheart told me about this idea this morning and we were going to tell you before you ran off on that emergency call."

"OK, so what about earth's politics?" Love Heart finally sat down and crossed his arms.

"Well, we've been at this for over twenty years and I don't think we've made much of an impact on the world, at least not so far." Tenderheart took a deep breath, "I think we need to make more of the adult world aware of our existence and declare ourselves a nation to the rest of the world."

"Or in other words, we're going to the United Nations, eventually." Brave Heart looked down at the mountain of paperwork in front of them, a stack had somehow formed in front of Love Heart as he sat.

Love Heart sighed, "Oh joy. So how do we even do this?"

"Well that's what I need to figure out," Tenderheart looked up at the two of them, "I know you two have plans and that paperwork's really more my thing."

"Which explains why you and Love-a-Lot don't have kids yet." Love Heart snickered, which got a laugh from Brave Heart as well.

Tenderheart rolled his eyes but still smiled, "Well even if I'm doing most of the documentation I need you two to be on board with this when we announce it to everyone. Even if Noble Heart and True Heart lead the family the three of us have to move us forwards. Someday the three of us will have to be the full time leaders so we need to plan for that day and I think this is it."

"Not to mention Bright Heart's little project." Brave Heart folded his arms and stared at his lap, "I mean the universal translator you're helping him make could solve a lot of problems for humans if we can get more of them made, and then there's that whole alien contact thing he's been doing."

Love Heart agreed, "I see...yeah if it's real and we find aliens at our doorstep in a couple years...well hopefully first contact will go smoothly." All three of them sighed.

"Enough depressing talk. I need to get started on this, I'm gonna need some coffee." Tenderheart got up and walked over to the coffee machine they'd installed in the meeting room recently.

"Right, then I'm gonna head home." Brave Heart grinned, "Feral and I have plans tonight."

Love Heart nodded. "Me too, I need a good sleep."

OoOoO

Back in the jungle, the twelve hunters were finally starting to recover from their skirmish with the Care Bear Magi, their sight having returned after Truth's flash spell.

One stood up with a hand to his side, "Ugg, little bastard cut me. Why aren't I bleeding?"

"Who cares. Find any weapons you can and let's find them!" The leader of the group stood up and grabbed a gold bayonet that had been spared stuck in the ground, still with some of Love Heart's blood on it.

"So gold can kill magical creatures?"

The leader groaned, "How do you forget something like that?" He turned around then gaped as he saw black fog moving through the trees.

"I didn't know that, but it's all I need to know." A man in black plate armor with long black hair and sightless white eyes entered the camp.

"Stay back!" One of the hunters drew a sidearm pistol that had escaped the Magi's fire and began to fire at him over and over until the clip was empty. The gold bullets just struck his armor, crunching into small pellets and bouncing off to the ground.

"Enough of this," Dusk Heart raised a hand as black spikes fired out in every direction skewering every hunter in range. With the hunters taken care of, Dusk Heart used his tentacles of darkness retrieve one of the bayonets from the ground, "This will be useful."

"Die!" The hunters' leader jumped up and stabbed at Dusk Heart with a bayonet, that crushed into an accordion as it struck his armor.

"I missed one," Dusk Heart extended a serrated red blade from his right forearm and tore the man's throat out with one slash.

Dusk Heart left their bodies to rot in the jungle. "Now, to see where they came from."

OoOoO

By now, Take Care Bear was used to unconscious and injured patients waking up in her exam room so the sigh from the pegasus didn't catch her by surprise. She was at the young woman's side in an instant as her eyes came open and she sat up. "Welcome to the Kingdom of Caring. My name is Take Care Bear. Hold still," Take Care offered a glass of water to the pink pegasus. She took it carefully and downed it in four big gulps.

"Thank you," she set the glass down then winced as she felt stinging from all over her body and only then noticed the gauss patches all over her fur.

"Burns, that should help you heal." Take Care pulled off one, which made the pegasus wince. "You're healing fast, can't say I'm surprised. What's you're name?"

"Sweet Heart Pegasus. Am I really in the Kingdom of Caring?" Sweet Heart reached up and pulled off another patch, wincing as it took some fur with it.

"Yes you are, hold still until I'm done." Take Care gave her a severe glare as she removed the rest of the burn patches then had to jump back as the pegasus leapt from the table.

"I made it! Yahoo!" her hooves clopped on the ground, suddenly so full of energy then she winced, "Ow, still hurts," she rubbed one of the spots she had been burned. Her stomach growled. She frowned and placed both her hands over her tummy symbol, "Can I get something to eat, please?"

"Well it's breakfast time, so you can head to the Hall of Hearts." Take Care rolled her eyes, "If I know this place then someone's going to drop right away to and make sure you're alright."

Take Care heard the front door of her hospital open as though her comment had summoned them. Sweet Heart didn't need any more encouragement and she headed out the door that Take Care pointed out as the exit.

Love Heart and Confidence Heart had just entered the hospital's waiting room, both of them wanted to make sure the pink pegasus was alright before they went for lunch. Both were immensely relieved to see her emerge from the exam room none the worse for wear.

"You're looking good," Confidence smirked, "So how are you feeling?"

Sweet Heart had frozen in the doorway. She stood and stared at Love Heart, then a wide smile spread across her face and she literally flew towards him, "BIG BROTHER!"

Love Heart was taken completely by surprised when Sweet Heart latched onto him in a big hug. "What the hell!"

"Big brother? The fuck?!" Confidence was about to grab onto the pegasus when she let go and stood in front of both of them.

"Sorry, it's just..." She grinned, "Love Heart Bear, I'm your little sister: Sweet Heart Pegasus."

"Little sister?" Love Heart stared at her. The only real mark that could prove they were related was the darker eight-pointed star on each of their foreheads.

Sweet Heart nodded vigorously, "Mom and dad told me all about you and I knew I had to try and find this place. I can't believe I did it!"

"Wait!" Love Heart grabbed Sweet Heart by the shoulders, "Mom and dad are alive!?"

Sweet Heart wriggled loose but kept grinning, "Yes they are. Com'on I can show you!"

"Hold it!" Confidence Heart's shout put a hold on the first meeting of the siblings, "Before anyone runs off to do anything I think we need to get breakfast, and introduce you to the rest of the family, Sweet."

Sweet Heart huffed and was about to protest when she felt her stomach growl again. "I guess I could use something to east, those people didn't feed me for three days."

"Alright, let's go then," Love Heart took Confidence Heart by the hand and motioned for Sweet Heart to follow them.

"So who are you?" Sweet Heart's question was directed at Confidence Heart as she skipped alongside them, catching the air and gliding short distances with each jump.

"Confidence Heart Fennec, and if you're telling the truth I'm your future sister-in-law." Confidence Heart had to wonder how someone so hungry could still have so much energy.

"Nice to meet you then. Oooh oooh is that the Hall of Hearts?" Sweet Heart hovered for a moment and pointed to the large red heart shaped building they were coming up on.

"That's it." Love Heart smiled, "don't worry, there'll be plenty of food left."

OoOoO

Trickster Heart Hare, now at a late teenage, pressed his ear up against Swift Heart's swollen tummy, "I can't hear anything."

"Because unlike you she likes to sleep," Swift Heart carefully pushed her son off her, "You'll get to meet her soon, ugg not soon enough for me." Swift Heart half grimaced at the ketchup on her pancakes. Pregnancy cravings were the worst.

"OK...hey who's that?" Trick stood up on the bench and peered towards the entrance where Love Heart, Confidence Heart and Sweet Heart had just entered.

Grumpy stood up to peer over the crowd, "No idea...wait is that a pegasus?"

Swift Heart turned her head to get a look at the new arrival, "A pegasus Care Bear Cousin? What happened yesterday?"

As Sweet Heart approached the buffet table she grinned and waved at anyone who passed by. Murmurs were spreading through the crowd, though the Magi were mostly just relieved to see that she was alright. Sweet Heart grabbed a plate and filled it with waffles, scrambled eggs and fruit. She looked up at Anger Heart as he brought in a plate full of toast.

Anger Heart nodded at her, "Good to see you back on your feet."

"Yup. Why do you have five tails?" Sweet Heart leaned sideways to see the tails swishing behind Anger Heart.

Anger Heart averted his gaze from her and looked down at the floor, "I'm a kitsune, excuse me." He turned around the retreated into the kitchen.

Sweet Heart didn't take any notice of the fox's dour attitude but immediately spotted Noble Heart and True Heart sitting at a table nearby. She grinned and trotted over to their table and plopped down next to True Heart. "Hello," she started to eat.

"Oh, hello," True Heart smiled at the unexpected guest, "Who are you?"

Sweet Heart smiled, "I'm Sweet Heart Pegasus and you're my Aunt True Heart." Sweet Heart bit into a mouthful of eggs as Noble Heart choked on a glass of water.

True Heart patted Noble Heart's back as he got his breath back but asked, "Aunt? What do you mean?"

Love Heart couldn't suppress a grin as he and Confidence sat down across from Noble and True Heart. "Noble Heart, True Heart, meet my little sister."

Noble Heart finally got over the water down the wrong pipe and turned to Sweet Heart, "Aunt? Sister?" It didn't take long for him to put two and two together but True Heart had to ask.

"Who are your parents?" True Heart's eyes were wide.

Sweet Heart swallowed the food in her mouth, "Sage Heart Bear and Life Heart Unicorn."

"Oh my goodness, they're alive?" True Heart felt a sudden warmth spreading through her heart. She turned and hugged Noble Heart and shouted loud enough for everyone to hear. "They're alive!"

Everyone had stopped to stare at the founders as they quickly pulled Sweet Heart up to the buffet table where everyone could see. Sweet Heart pouted slightly but let them drag her up for the impromptu meet and greet.

"Alright everyone, I know this isn't how we usually do things but I want to introduce you to Sweet Heart Pegasus." Noble Heart patted the pink pegasus on her shoulder. "Now forgive my rambling but we've told you about Sage Heart Bear and Life Heart Unicorn, the two lost founders and Love Heart's parents. Well it seems that Sweet Heart is also their daughter which means that they're alive!" Noble Heart was grinning at the thought.

There was a round of applause from most of the family with a couple muttering about how she might be lying, only to be shushed by their neighbours. Sweet Heart wriggled free from the founders and went back to the table to continue eating.

Love Heart had finished during the introduction and he watched his sister eating. "Do you know where mom and dad are?" His face was serious.

Sweet Heart paused to think for a moment, "Mom called it a unicorn grove, a place we could be safe from the outside world."

"Why didn't they try to come home?" True Heart had sat back down next to Sweet Heart.

Sweet Heart took a drink of water before she answered. "Mom was scared to leave. Every time she thought about it she would crouch down and start shaking and muttering. It would take dad hours to get her out of it and whenever he tried to leave she would beg him not to go." Sweet Heart twiddled her hands together, "I was lonely there but mom and dad didn't want me to leave and I was scared. They taught me magic and kinetics so I could have some fun but there wasn't much."

Confidence Heart sat down with her third full plate of food, "So why now?"

Sweet Heart looked at Confidence Heart then to Love Heart. "Because mom's pregnant. We're going to have two new baby brothers or sisters soon and I didn't want them to grow up alone down there!" Sweet Heart pumped her fists in front of her and flapped her wings several times, "I had to come and find all of you so I snuck out of the barrier and tried to find you. But those people found me and knocked me out. They wanted to know where I came from but I kept my mouth shut so they didn't feed me until you rescued me," She smiled at the two magi across from her.

Love Heart stood up, "Then let's go find them. Can you show us where they are?"

Sweet Heart was on her feet in an instant, "Yep. I just need to cast a spell mom showed me so I can find them."

"May we come as well, after so long I want to see my brother again," True Heart placed a hand over her heart, "and Life Heart too, my stars I never thought we'd ever see them again."

"Mind if we tag along?" Brave Heart turned around from where he sat with Feral Heart.

Before long most of the Care Bear Family was ready and raring to go to meet Life Heart and Sage Heart, until Love Heart spoke up.

"ENOUGH!" His shout silenced everyone, "We can't all go and leave this place deserted. It will just be me, Confidence Heart, Sweet Heart, Noble Heart and True Heart, and Grams if she wants to come." Love Heart turned to the elderly bear, who sat nearby.

Grams held up her hand, "Thank you, but no. I would like to see my son and daughter-in-law again but I can be patient and let you convince them to come home."

Love Heart nodded and raised a fist, "Alright then. As soon as we're done eating we'll go."

Half-an-hour later, Love Heart was at the wheel of a Cloud Car with Sweet Heart in the passenger seat to navigate him towards where their parents were. Confidence Heart, True Heart and Noble Heart were sitting in the backseat as they maneuvered down towards the earth.

Sweet Heart pointed to a grove of deciduous trees in the middle of a clearing that looked very out of place in the middle of the jungle. True Heart rubbed her eyes as she saw the jungle flicker in and out of sight, "What is that? How come we never found it before?"

"It's a spell to hide the grove from the outside. I cast a spell on all of you that let you see through it." Sweet Heart grinned as they touched down and hopped out of the car. She took a deep breath and called, "Mom! Dad! I'm home! And I brought family!"

They waited for a moment, and they the saw the. Love Heart gaped as, for the first time in years, he saw his father, Sage Heart Bear, emerge from within the grove, right to the edge of the shimmering barrier that surrounded the trees. Iridescent blue with a heart shaped cloud of rainbow dust for a tummy symbol. Then he saw, for the first time in his life, his mother: Life Heart Unicorn.

She was forest green with a spiraled horn on her head and long silver hair that ran down her back, cloven hooves and an apple tree with heart shaped fruit for her tummy symbol. Just like Sweet Heart had suggested, Life Heart was heavily pregnant, carrying a huge belly in front of her that her hands rested on.

Life Heart gasped when she saw who was standing in front of them, "My stars...I...True Heart, Noble Heart, Love Heart..."

Sage Heart stepped forwards, "Love Heart... Thank you Sweet Heart." Sage Heart took a few steps out of the barrier, turned back to Life Heart and offered her a hand, "I think it's time we left, please my love?"

Life Heart was trembling, but seeing the friendly smiling faces of her lost son and family across the field made her nerve herself up to take her first step out of the barrier.

There was a whooshing noise.

A long black spike lanced out of the treeline from behind Sage Heart and pierced him through his back and out the front of his chest.

Everyone was silent for a moment, until Sweet Heart screamed.

"DADDY!"